Rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi fight for control of the country
Benghazi, March 19, 2011
An injured rebel fighter sits in a car as forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi forces push east despite the declaration of U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over the disputed areas.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Wait
Refugees from Libya wait in line to board a bus heading to a refugee camp at the Tunisia-Libyan border, March 15.Emilio Morenatti / AP
Lunchtime
Bangladeshi men who fled from Libya eat their food in a refugee camp in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, March 14, 2011.Emilio Morenatti / AP
A Step Back
Opposition fighters who gathered near the oil refinery in Ras Lanuf were forced to retreat back towards the rebel-held city of Brega after an air strike, March 11, 2011.Tyler Hicks / The New York Times / Redux
Zawiyah, March 11, 2011
Less than two weeks after rebels took control, pro-Gaddafi forces, using a brutal assault, were able to reclaim power in the strategic city of Zawiyeh. In this photo (taken during a government-organized visit for foreign media) soldiers loyal to Gaddafi stand on the roof of a shelled building in the main square.Ben Curtis / AP
Clash
A rebel fights against troops loyal to Gaddafi loyal troops in the oil refinery town of Ras Lanuf, March 9.Philip Poupin / ZUMAPRESS.com
Eastern Libya, March 10, 2011
A rebel vehicle is blown up by Libyan government troops along a road between Ras Lanuf and Ben Jawad, as opposition troops continue to battle forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
From the Ground
An anti-Gaddafi rebel fires a Kalashnikov at Libyan warplanes in the oil town of Ras Lanuf, March 11, 2011.Arnaud Finistre / ABACAUSA.COM
Run for Cover
Rebels run for cover in front of a burning gas storage terminal during a battle on the road, March 4, 2011.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Fire Away
A rebel fighter fires an anti-aircraft weapon in front of a burning gas storage terminal.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Explosive
Rebels drive past a burning Al-Sedr Oil Terminal after it was hit by pro-Gaddafi forces.Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Munitions
A rebel fighter shows hand grenades found on fighters loyal to Gaddafi, March 19, 2011.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Downtime
Opposition fighters man an anti-aircraft gun.Tyler Hicks / The New York Times / Reudux
Ras Lanuf, March 7, 2011
Rebel fighters take cover following an air strike by Gaddafi forces near a checkpoint. Groups seeking to end the rule of the Libyan leader are battling forces loyal to him in the eastern parts of the country.Allison Shelley / Getty Images
Incoming
A Libyan rebel fighter jumps away from shrapnel during heavy shelling by forces loyal to Gadaffi, near Bin Jawad.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Shelled
Rebel fighters take cover, along a roadside near Bin Jawad, during an attack by forces in support of Gaddafi.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Remains
A Libyan man stands near the site of a massive explosion at an ammunition depot on in Benghazi, March 7, 2011. Hospital officials say that the March 5 blast in the rebel stronghold killed at least 17 people, destroyed one warehouse and damaged a second.Tara Todras-Whitehill / AP
Field of Ammunition
A rebel walks through a field of ammunition near Ras Lanuf, March 7, 2011.John Moore / Getty Images
Shock
A man shows a child's shoe from the interior of a civilian car that was hit by an air strike, causing casualties, including two children, in Ras Lanuf.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Landscape
The Rebels load an anti-aircraft gun near petroleum facilities in Ras Lanuf.John Moore / Getty Images
Tripoli, March 6
A woman holds an assault rifle in a procession of vehicles during a rally in support of Gaddafi.Chris Helgren / Reuters
Opposition
Protesters wave the Kingdom of Libya flag during and anti-Gaddafi demonstration in Benghazi on March 6.Suhaib Salem / Reuters
Hit
A parachute, upper left, is ejected from a Libyan jet bomber as it crashes after being hit over Benghazi, March 19, 2011.Patrick Baz / AFP / Getty Images
In Control
Rebels sit on a truck armed with heavy machinery after capturing the oil town of Ras Lanuf on Saturday, March 5th.Kevin Frayer / AP
Sandy Skies
A Libyan rebel fighter mans a check point in near Ras Lanuf.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Ras Lanuf, Libya, March 4, 2011
A rebel fighter fires a cannon during a conflict near Ras Lanuf, Libya during clashes between heavily armed rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. The fighting took place on the outskirts of a key oil port on the Mediterranean Sea. The Libyan army responded with artillery fire from land and air.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Armed for Battle
Rebel fighters take cover from shelling by Gaddafi supporters during the battle near the outskirts of Ras Lanuf, March 4, 2011.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Roadside
Soldiers who had defected from Gaddafi and volunteers sit with weapons near the eastern town of Brega. Mutinous army units in pickup trucks armed with machine-guns and rocket launchers deployed for battle around Brega, securing the site after clashes with Gaddafi supporters.Tara Todras-Whitehill / AP
Friday Prayers
A man stands in a crowd of thousands of Libyans during prayers in Benghazi, on March 4.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
The Things They Carried
The fighting has led many to flee. Here, Bangladeshi nationals working in Libya walk with their belongings to a refugee camp after crossing the Tunisia-Libyan Border, in Ras Ajdir.Emilio Morenatti / AP
Getting Ready
Rebel Fighters clean a rocket launcher with a ramrod in Ajdabiyah, Libya.John Moore / Getty Images
Heavy Arms
A Libyan rebel soldier carries ammunition as forces prepare for battle in Ajdabiyah, on March 2, 2011.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Book Burning
Anti-government demonstrators burn copies of Gaddafi's "Green Book" next to the Green Book Studies Center in Benghazi, Libya.Asmaaa Waguih / Reuters
Fireball
A huge explosion erupts over Benghazi after a plane was shot down, March 19, 2011.Anja Niedringhaus / AP
Burning Ambulance
A Libyan rebel celebrates the rebels' victory over forces loyal to Gaddafi near Brega, March 2, 2011.Hussein Malla / AP
Ammunition
Rebels store Molotov cocktails as they prepare for conflict against pro-Gaddafi supporters in Ajdabiyah, Libya, March 2, 2011.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Stopping to Smell The Flowers
The flowers were given to the Libyan leader by a supporter while he drove in an electric golf cart, after speaking in Tripoli, March 2, 2011.Ben Curtis / AP
Tripoli, March 1
A army tank stands guard in a suburb of the Libyan capital — ostenstibly still under Gaddafi's control — in a photo taken on a guided government tour. Though rebels have consolidated their power in the east, Gaddafi remote in control in Liby's primary city.Chris Helgren / Reuters
Restricted Entrance
Fire burns on the roadside as antigovernment rebels stop cars at a checkpoint in Zintan, about 95 miles (150 km) south of Tripoli.Fred Dufour / AFP / Getty Images
Depot
A man takes stock of weapons and ammunition found in a base in a rebel-controlled area in Ajdabiyah.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
The Desert
Defected Libyan soldiers stand guard outside an army base in the eastern town of Ajdabiyah. The Arabic on the wall reads, "The Ajdabiyah Martyrs Battalion. We will never surrender. Either victory or death."Tara Todras-Whitehill / AP
Infrastructure Destroyed
Libyan rebels controlling the eastern part of the country stand in a vandalized bathroom previously used by Gaddafi and his family at the airport terminal in Benghazi on Feb. 28.Kevin Frayer / AP
Stamping Out
Protesters stomp on a billboard of Gaddafi during a demonstration in the eastern city of Tobruk.Kevin Frayer / AP
Police Station
These antiregime protesters are outside a burned police building in Tobruk.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Exuberance
A woman rebel fighter shoots an AK-47 rifle into the air. She had been told that forces loyal to Gaddafi would withdraw from Benghazi (prematurely, it seems), March 19, 2011.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Memorial
Photographs of Libyan protesters killed during the uprising are displayed outside the courthouse in the eastern city of Benghazi, February 27, 2011. Libyan protest leaders have established a transitional "national council" in cities seized from Gaddafi.Patrick Baz / AFP / Getty Images
Waiting
Stranded foreign workers wait for food in the port of Benghazi on Feb. 27. Thousands of foreigners are fleeing Libya by air, land and sea, hoping to cross borders prior to the looming conflict.Marco Longari / AFP / Getty Images
Seeking Refuge
People present their documents at the Libyan-Tunisian border in Ras Jdir as they flee the conflict.Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Media
Rebel-force officials set up this press center in Benghazi.John Moore / Getty Images
Launching Ammunition
A rebel fighter fires a rocket-propelled grenade from a militia post in Ajdabiyah. The rebel militia is preparing for conflict after rumors that government troops loyal to President Gaddafi were readying an attack.John Moore / Getty Images
Crowd
Thousands of Libyans gather for Friday prayers outside the courthouse in Benghazi on Feb. 25.Gianluigu Guercia / AFP / Getty Images
Protest
Antigovernment rebels demonstrate in Benghazi.Suhaib Salem / Reuters
Blaze
The office of the chief judiciary police in Benghazi burns after being set on fire by anti-government supporters on February, 25, 2011.Patrick Baz / AFP / Getty Images
Tobruk, Feb. 24
In this eastern city, the building of the security services was burned in the early days of the uprising.Suhaib Salem / Reuters
Ritual
An antigovernment protester prays in the courtyard of the state security complex.Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Examination
Medics look at the body of a fighter loyal to Gaddafi after he was killed by rebel fighters in Benghazi, March 19, 2011.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
V for Victory
Men celebrate atop a tank in the town of Shahat.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Graffiti
An antigovernment protester writes the phrase "People want the removal of the regime" on an army tank in Benghazi.Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Runway
A man walks with his children at the Al Abrak military airport.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Youth in Revolt
A protester holds up a sign reading "The tyrant of Libya" in Derna, a town in the east between Tobruk and Benghazi.AFP / Getty Images
Tripoli, Feb. 21, 2011
The unrest in Libya was inspired by successful uprisings in the country's North Africa neighbors Tunisia and Egypt, where angry demonstrators toppled two long-ruling regimes. In mid-February, Libyans streamed into the streets to protest the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who has led Libya for more than 40 years. The demonstrators set fires in Green Square, where the Libyan leader regularly organizes military parades.Balkis Press / ABACAUSA.COM
The Unrest Spreads
Other cities soon were filled with protests. In Benghazi on February 21, 2011, above, fires broke out in the buildings at the entrance to a security-forces compound.Alaguri / AP
Toppled
The country's many sculptures and artworks promoting Gaddafi's rule were the targets of protesters' anger. This monument in Tripoli, a representation of The Green Book, a three-volume tract by Gaddafi outlining his vision, was toppled after a night of violent demonstrations.The New York Times
Prison
It was reported that the security guards at Tripoli's al-Jadid prison, above, deserted the jail and the prisoners fled.AFP / Getty Images
Defaced
This poster of Gaddafi hangs near Green Square in Tripoli on March 21, 2011.Balkis Press / ABACAUSA.COM
Unbowed
Gaddafi has refused to concede power. In a television address on Feb. 22, he declared, "I will fight on to the last drop of my blood."Reuters
Running for Cover
Rebel seek protection from shelling, March 19, 2011.Goran Tomasevic / Reuters
Mercenary?
Reports from within the country say that groups of heavily armed militiamen and mercenaries from other African countries have sprayed machine-gun fire into the streets. The death toll is impossible to determine; estimates range from dozens to hundreds. The men in Benghazi who presented this man claimed he was an African mercenary.Balkis Press / ABACAUSA.COM
On Fire
For the most part, the regime has kept the international press from covering the conflict. Most of the images that have trickled out have come from the cameras of nonprofessionals in the country. It is not possible to independently verify their authenticity.Balkis Press / ABACAUSA.COM
Captured
Protesters chant antigovernment slogans from atop a burned-out building in Tobruk, an eastern city that remains in the hands of the rebels.Asmaa Waguih / Reuters
Killed in Fighting
Rebels bring the body of a fighter loyal to Gaddafi back to Benghazi, March 18, 2011.Anja Niedringhaus / AP
Ras Lanuf, March 15
Opposition fighters react near an oil refinery in Ras Lanuf after an air attack by jets allegedly loyal to Gaddafi.Tyler Hicks / The New York Times / Redux